Surface Properties of Mesophase-Forming Fluorinated Bicycloacrylate/Polysiloxane Methacrylate Copolymers

Novel random copolymers were synthesized by free-radical polymerization of a bicycloacrylate monomer carrying a fluorocarbon chain side group (BAF10) with a methacrylate monomer having a polysiloxane side graft (SiMA). The copolymers with higher contents of BAF10 gave rise to a well-ordered smectic bilayer mesophase. The surface structure of the derived polymer films was investigated by measurements of the contact angle with several interrogating liquids and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at different photoemission angles. The values of the contact angles were used to evaluate the film surface tension, following different additive-component and equation-ofstate methods. The low surface energies found were attributed to the pronounced hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of the outermost surface caused by the preferential segregation of the fluorocarbon chains to the polymer–air interface.